Could a standardized dress code be in Pocono Mountain School District's future?

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By JENNA EBERSOLE

poconorecord.com

By JENNA EBERSOLE

Posted Oct. 3, 2013 at 12:40 PM
Updated Oct 3, 2013 at 12:43 PM

By JENNA EBERSOLE

Posted Oct. 3, 2013 at 12:40 PM
Updated Oct 3, 2013 at 12:43 PM

» Social News

Pocono Mountain School District students could be required to wear standardized dress attire as soon as next year.

The district sent a notice to parents last week asking for input on the school board proposal and to ask whether they would be interested in participating in a 30-member committee to help with planning and implementation.

At a school board meeting last month, Superintendent Elizabeth Robison said the district wanted to allow plenty of time before the start of the next school year for consideration and preparation by parents.

Assistant Superintendent for Special Education Betsy Gustafson, who is helping to oversee the effort, said the proposal is in its infancy. The change would be for all grade levels and would likely require something like khakis and a certain color of shirt, but not a uniform.

Gustafson said face-to-face discussion with students has yielded somewhat mixed results, but overall opinion has been positive. The district is also talking with the Stroudsburg Area School District, which has a standardized dress code.

Pocono Mountain School District spokeswoman Wendy Frable said by email that discussion on the issue began in the early spring when the board considered student dress revisions for the handbook.

She said building principals have asked for the change to create more uniformity in dress code standards across the different schools.

“They also feel a standardized dress code will take some of the subjectivity out of enforcing the current dress codes and reduce the amount of time now spent on dress code issues,” she said.

Frable said the district has also begun contacting possible vendors.

At the district’s meeting Wednesday night, parent and Pocono Mountain reading specialist teacher Becky Weirich said she would likely be in favor of the proposal. “I don’t mind it, depending on what they decide to do,” she said.

A too-harsh dress code could stifle students and encourage them to rebel, she said. But the standard code would also possibly help parents with affordability concerns.

“It makes it easier,” she said, though the elementary students she works with have largely not concerned themselves with name brand clothing.

The district will hold two public meetings on the proposal: At 7 p.m. Wednesday at the East Junior High School Auditorium and at 7 p.m. Thursday at the West Junior High School all-purpose room.